Land Registry privatization dangerous, says watchdog

Jun 01, 2016

Written By Jack J Collins, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

The government’s planned privatization of the Land Resistry is a dangerous precedent because it could create a monopoly business with the ability to abuse its position, the competition watchdog has warned.

In response to the consultation on plans for the privately owned ‘NewCo’ to take over the operations of the Land Registry, the Competition and Markets Authority claimed that there is “significant risk” that this could cause real damage to the infrastructure.

It added: “While these risks are not unique to privately owned monopolies, our view is that they may be sharpened by the introduction of a profit motive.”

The watchdog has recommended that the best way to guard against risks in competition was to split the registry into two disparate divisions, and then by making sure that the monopoly division had no say on the development of commercial products.

The consultation about the future of the Land Registry closes on Thursday, and it has already received criticism from City lawyers and conveyancers. This latest warning will be further indication that the Land Registry sale will not be swallowed easily.

The sale has been allowed for the first time due to the Neighbourhood Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which was revealed during the Queen’s speech last week.

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